Seroprevalence of infection in domestic dogs in an area from northwest of Iran: a cross-sectional study using immunodominant surface antigen 1 (SAG1).

is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that infects humans and animals. surface antigen 1 (SAG1) is an appropriate antigen with high specificity and sensitivity for the detection of infection in humans and animal hosts. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of infection using SAG1 antigen (P30) in ownership dogs in Meshkin-Shahr district in the northwestern Iran. The sera samples were collected from 171 domestic dogs and tested using indirect ELISA (SAG1 antigen). The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 13. From a total of 171 dogs, 82 (48 %) of them were sero-positive. No statistical significant difference was seen between infection and gender ( = 0.995). The highest sero-prevalence of rate was observed in >5 years animals; but no statistical significant difference was seen between infection and age ( = 0.589). Our findings indicate that seropositivity rate is high in ownership dogs in northwest of Iran. This is probably due to high exposure to contaminated food, soil, or water sources with sporulated oocysts.